


Inside Job

by Agent_Scribe



Category: Leverage
Genre: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Gen, shenanigans ensue, the team and Nate are a DID system
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-02-27 10:18:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18737062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent_Scribe/pseuds/Agent_Scribe
Summary: Nathan Ford shares a body with four other people, and has decided to drink a lot instead of going to therapy. as it says in the tags...shenanigans ensue.





	1. We Need Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first multi-chapter fic, I have no idea what I'm doing, send help

_ “Face it Nate, after everything that’s happened, you’re too unstable. You’re back in that place, that place you were in all those years ago. You’re almost worse. I know this isn’t what you need to hear right now, but Nate...we need to separate. I’ve got my own healing to manage. I can’t hand-hold you through yours, and I definitely can’t watch you do this to yourself any more. I just can’t.” _

Nate knocked back the rest of his drink. He hated thinking about that conversation; hated remembering looking into her eyes and seeing how much he was hurting her. If there was one thing he was good at, it was letting people down. He was currently letting quite a few people down by drinking again, but there wasn’t anything they could do about it. 

He slid off the barstool, legs a little unsteady. Time...to go back home. If you could call it that. A shabby little apartment, the best he could do without breaking his savings account.  _ Need to pick up some food before we go home _ , a voice in his head said. He ignored it. No. Need to let the dulling of the alcohol do its job, help him sleep. Keep the nightmares from replaying when his eyes closed. 

 

* * *

 

Elliot blinked awake, bleary, with a slight but insistent headache pushing at his temples.  _ Damnit Nate _ , he thought, slowly swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.  _ Need some food...that’ll  help with the headache. _ It was only a few steps to the “kitchen” area of the apartment. Elliot couldn’t bear to call it a kitchen proper - a hotplate, minifridge, and sink did not a good cooking space make. And he’d had to fight for the hotplate. He opened up the cupboard and… “Harrison! Damnit!” Nothing but a solid shelf of orange soda, and beneath that a collection of Cheetos and Chex Mix.  _ We really need to get back in therapy _ , a voice said. Elliot couldn’t agree more. Too bad the decision wasn’t up to him. He opened the minifridge. Thank  _ God _ the eggs he’d bought were still there. He fried up some eggs, then decided to go out and stock up on good food again. Man can not survive on orange soda and eggs, and snack food alone. 

A quick stroll down the the street -  _ that man is watching us that man is watching us!! -  _ and there was the local convenience store. He stocked up on canned food - no one else really cooked so perishable foods were not a good choice - and grabbed a box of cereal as well, for the lazy ones.  _ Oh do pick up some chocolate, please _ . He sighed and added a chocolate bar. Food paid for and bagged up, he started walking back to the apartment. Slowly. The sun was a bit too bright for the last lingering bits of the hangover, but he’d much rather be squinting outside than cooped up inside that apartment. It oozed depression.  _ Quite. Everything is so beige. Ugh. _

_ Really, I think that man is following us now!! Watch out!! _

Elliot sighed, shaking his head a little. “No Parker,” he muttered. But the headache was worsening and he felt himself disconnecting a bit - 

 

* * *

 

Parker tensed where she stood, her first thought to reach for the brim of a baseball cap and - but no, they weren’t  _ wearing _ her baseball cap...which meant people could see their face… Parker’s heartrate picked up, and she fought the urge to glance around. No, that would give her away.  _ Parker dear, it’s okay. Breathe. We’re safe _ .

_ No we’re not!! We’re not safe if people can see our face!! _

She tightened her grasp on the grocery bags and started speed-walking towards the apartment. Get home, get safe; get home, get safe; get home, get safe. 

She sprinted up the stairs of the apartment building, taking the chance at every landing to subtly check the stairs below in her peripheral. No one there. Good. 

She opened the apartment door, dropped the groceries immediately, and exhaled deeply. Safe. We’re safe. She closed her eyes.  _ Deep breaths _ , said a warm voice.  _ Calm your body _ . Parker took one deep breath, then another…

 

* * *

 

Nate ran a hand over his face, opened his eyes. He was leaning against the door of his apartment, bags of groceries around his feet. He winced, rubbing his temples. Still had a bit of a hangover. Must not have been too long since last night. “I need a drink,” he muttered, stepping away from the groceries. He opened every cabinet in the tiny kitchen and found: orange soda, two cans of beans, and a bag full of…”Monopoly money? Parker…” No alcohol, though. Damnit. Sophie must have thrown it out. Again. Well, that just meant he’d have to go out for a drink. He stepped over the groceries in the entrance again, and went out. 

It was a short walk to the bar, and Nate walked it with head down, and hands in pockets, slouched and uncaring. He pushed the door of the bar open, not surprised to see it was mostly empty; it wasn’t even noon yet. He sat down at the bar, pulled out his wallet and - he had a single dollar bill. 

_ We need to get a job… _


	2. The Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sophie takes care of things, and hunts for jobs (and a therapist).

Sophie opened her eyes, then quickly closed them again. Bright sunshine streamed in through the wide-open blinds. “Nate,” she groaned. “Why are you like this?” Throwing her arm over her eyes, she took stock of the body’s condition with her other senses - slightly smelly, lingering edges of a headache,  _ massively _ hungry… In general, uncared for. She sighed. “Time for this body to get the Sophie treatment again.”

Swinging her legs out of the bed, she walked over to the window and angled the blinds so the light wasn’t quite as blinding. Then she walked over to the kitchen - and noticed as she passed the front door that there were grocery bags just sitting there. Rolling her eyes, she scooped them up and put the groceries away. Thankfully Elliot was smart about shopping, and there was nothing cold or perishable. And he’d gotten her a couple bars of chocolate!  _ Thank you Elliot _ .

_ Of course _ , came his gruff response. 

 

She poured a bowl of cereal, washed it, then scrambled some eggs (they only had one bowl, so dish economy was necessary). After washing the dishes she’d used, she gathered some of “her” clothes - skinny jeans, a neutral shirt, and a kimono that she’d bought while out and smuggled into the closet without the others noticing. Then into the shower she went. And maybe she did shave the legs while she was at it So what?. It made her feel more comfortable in the body.

After that she stripped the bed, swept the floor, put on laundry, and lightly dusted. The apartment really was in deplorable shape...Elliot tried but there was only so much he could do, while also making sure they had real food in the house, and the body got fed regularly. 

 

A few hours later, after the laundry was done, Sophie headed off with a goal in mind - get to the library and start job searching. She truly was the only one that would do this, except maybe Hardison, but he was likely to only consider the type of job  _ he _ could do, which wouldn’t work out that well. He tended to forget their brain didn’t have as much programming knowledge as he was used to. No, they needed a job they could (almost) all do reasonably well. Something like waiting tables, or working at a grocery store. Sure, customer service and approachability weren’t really a trait for anyone but her, but she figured Elliot could probably make it through a shift or two in a retail environment without biting someone’s fingers off.

_ No promises _ .

Parker...would be the only problem. But then again Parker was usually the problem. These things could be worked out. Or at the very least they’d get a little money before being fired.  _ We need a therapist too… _ She made a mental note to look into therapists in the area. 

 

* * *

 

And so began...The Great Hunt. Thanks to Sophie’s efforts they landed a job at a local chain grocer, and somehow the team managed to get their shit together enough to work it until the first payday. And once that happened, the second part of the Great Hunt could unfold -  _ therapy _ . Unfortunately, their old therapist was expensive, far away, and not currently taking patients. But Sophie had contacted her asking for referrals, and done her own research. They had options (and very little to lose). Two therapists in (and one near-firing offense at the job later), they found someone. Friendly, approachable, not dismissive of their DID, and willing to work with them all: therapy jackpot. (Oh and also she was willing to work on a sliding scale, so they wouldn’t go broke between her and Nate’s alcohol habit.)

 

And then they lost the job. 

 

Sophie practically threw herself into the chair and exhaled until she felt deflated. “We lost our job,” she said, flatly. 

 

“Oh dear. I’m so sorry. Do you want to talk about what happened?”

 

“Yes, god yes I do.” Sophie leaned forward, sighing again. She blinked hard. Her vision was fuzzing a bit. “It’s all Elliot’s fault he just...he cannot abide customers most of the time and he has a devil of a time keeping his temper under control and he just...snapped. He went  _ off _ on a soccer mom…”   
  


* * *

 

 

Job: Take 2. Waiting tables at a local restaurant. 

 

Three weeks in: fired. 

 

Elliot slumped into the chair, running his hands over his face. “We lost our second job. Nate...showed up drunk one too many times.”

 

* * *

 

Job: Take 3. Cashier at another chain grocer.

 

One week in: fired. 

 

Parker pulled the knees to her chest on the floor and rocked back and forth, words spilling out of her so fast they were barely comprehensible. “And thenhe  _ yelled _ andthenIwas crying!! And it was toomuchtoomuchtoomuch and i couldn’t do it i couldn’t i just -  _ ran _ .”

 

* * *

 

Sophie took a deep breath and opened her eyes, gently wiping tears from the cheeks. “I’ve got to say, we all feel a bit defeated. Me least of all, Nate most of all. He’s gone back to drinking far more than he should… It’s so hard to help him, we’re really not sure what to do. AA meetings would be great, but he won’t go, and there’s no use in one of us going. It’s him that needs the help.” She sighed deeply, relaxing the body into sitting cross-legged. She pushed her hands into her temples, breathing deeply to chase away the sensation of tears. “I just… I don’t know what to do!”

 

“Have you all started a system journal?” the therapist asked.

 

“Elliot and I have  _ tried _ . Nate...doesn’t care enough to do much with it. Hardison can’t hardly remember it exists, so he’s barely checking or adding anything to it. And Parker...well she’s so paranoid it’s been difficult to loop her in. Elliot and I have been using it to make sure each of us knows what the body needs. So it’s working...a bit.” Sophie sighed again. 

 

“That’s good, that you and Elliot are able to keep up with the body’s needs using the journal. Definitely a good use for it. Have you considered system rules? A sort of code of conduct to get everyone on the same page.”

 

“I believe you’ve mentioned this before…?”

 

“Yes, to Elliot, I think. He said you’d probably be the best to draft the rules, as you know everyone in the system pretty well, and are good at “managing things,” I think is what he said.”

 

Sophie smiled, a little pinched. “Oh, well that was very kind of him. I do seem to be able to talk to everyone, which is not true for anyone else. Nate barely has any communication with anyone but me. And I  _ try _ to get everyone on the same page, working towards our goals. I just want us to be stable, self-sustaining...in a slightly better living situation.”

 

“System rules might be a good idea, then. A good starting place, for getting everyone on the same page.”

 

Sophie nodded, already mentally thinking through what rules and guidelines would be best. She and the therapist spent the rest of the system discussing this, and Sophie wrote down the suggestions she thought would be workable. She felt a surge of hope and motivation rise in her chest; maybe they could start succeeding at life soon. Maybe this was exactly what they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wheeeee finally another chapter!! I'm not the fastest writer, but I think I'll be getting chapter 3 up a little faster than this one. 
> 
> I apologize if any of my characterization is off, either in this chapter, or any future ones. The show isn't available on Netflix any more, and I can't afford to purchase it at the moment and it's been a Hot Minute since I watched it. I'm doing my best, though! And these characters really stick with you.


End file.
